Browns’ Todd Monken names Deshaun Watson for Week 1 of preseason, Shedeur Sanders set for Week 2

The Cleveland Browns have set the order for their early preseason quarterback reps. Head coach Todd Monken announced that Deshaun Watson will start the first week of the preseason, with the Browns hosting the Chicago Bears to open that stretch. The team’s release framed the decision as its starting point for evaluation rather than a statement about Cleveland’s regular-season depth chart.

Monken’s preseason plan also calls for Shedeur Sanders to start the second game. In the same announcement, the Browns indicated Sanders’ first preseason start will come in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills. The sequencing matters for how the Browns distribute game-game repetitions across their quarterbacks, especially when the goal is to see timing, protections, and play-calling reads under live preseason tempo.

For the Browns, preseason quarterback reps are typically less about precision and more about communication and process. Starting with Watson in the opener gives Cleveland a baseline for how the offense operates in longer stretches, while the transition to Sanders in the second game creates a second, different look for the staff, with a new rhythm and cadence controlling the pace.

Watson’s role in the first preseason game also places the veteran at the center of one of the team’s clearest early-season tests: managing protections and understanding situational football against another team’s defensive group that will be rotating players and adjusting coverages. In preseason Week 1, coordinators often emphasize fundamentals and continuity, and a starting quarterback set by the head coach can stabilize the plan for the week.

The Browns’ decision to give Sanders the second-game start shapes the evaluation process for both the quarterback and the surrounding unit. A second preseason start can matter for how an offense builds chemistry with its skill-position groups, with reps that are more sequential than what often happens when starters change midweek. It also puts Sanders’ preseason debut on the schedule in a way that allows coaches to compare how each report-caller handles game-plan constraints and in-game adjustments.

Monken’s quarterback order underscores the staff’s intention to run a defined preseason structure: one starter for Week 1 and another for Week 2. The Browns will still evaluate backups, but the starting sequence becomes the reference point for what they consider the offense’s most sustainable approach at game speed.

What to watch next is how Cleveland uses the rest of its quarterback room around those two starts. Even with Watson and Sanders designated for their respective weeks, the broader takeaway for the coaching staff usually comes from how well the supporting cast executes their assignments and how quickly the offense adapts when personnel and formations shift.

For Browns fans, the immediate takeaway is simple: Watson will begin the preseason as the team’s Week 1 starter, and Sanders will follow as the Week 2 starter. The next step, as always, is to see how the plan looks once the quarterback group begins facing live third-down situations and late-game adjustments in consecutive preseason games.